Bruised and Broken
by MeredithBrody
Summary: When two treasured possessions are stolen, Brody turns increasingly self destructive. Refusing to accept help until she's made to. (Eventual Brody/Pride)
1. Chapter 1

**So, here we go. This one actually is a new multi-chapter. The broad idea came from tiggerdavis1970, but I edited it around to this. I'm not 100% certain where this is going, but it'll go that's for sure. The title is from the New Found Glory song "Head on Collision". I recommend giving it a listen, it might give you some hints of where this story is going. Enjoy, please read &amp; review.  
Shin xx**

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Meredith Brody had been sleeping peacefully, calmly, then all of a sudden she'd woken up and she hadn't been sure why. Hearing a crunch of glass she shot upright, wondering if it was just a trick her ears were playing on her. When she heard another crunch, louder this time, and the sound of rustling she knew why she'd woken up. Reaching out to the bedside table she grabbed her weapon and decided to start out to find who was in her house. Slipping her cell into her pocket she was glad that she slept in socks, as she wouldn't have to worry about slippers making unnecessary noise. She made it to the archway to her living room and saw the broken window that was no doubt what had woken her up.

"Freeze, don't move. I'm a federal agent." She shouted as soon as she'd got aim on him. The would-be robber stopped a second then just grabbed his backpack and jumped out the window he'd clearly come in by. Rather than trying to hit him from a distance she instead pulled her cell out of the pyjama pocket and dialled up 911, identifying herself as NCIS and requesting a detective. She then went to her kitchen and found gloves, deciding that she might as well follow crime scene protocol. After unlocking and opening the front door, she went searching for what there was missing.

The first thing she noticed gone was her DVD player, probably one of the things in his backpack, then it was obviously he'd been grabbing up anything he could. A few pots and keepsakes from various places around the country. One of her more expensive purses was gone, she'd left the remaining money from her last night out in it, but it wasn't a fortune. Then she came to the most devastating loss. One of her photo albums. She had a few, but this one was special, it had contained mostly pictures of her and Emily as they'd grown up. She had copies of all the photos, but that didn't matter. She and Emily had made that album together. Then she noticed her keys were gone. Another loss of something from Emily. She was just staring at that empty space when she heard someone come up behind her. "Agent Brody?"

"Hey Detective." She tried to sound more upbeat than she was feeling. Daniel Josh had worked a handful of cases alongside NCIS in the months since she'd moved out here, and he was a good cop, she was glad that he was the one they'd sent. It was a little easier than a stranger, and a lot easier than a friend, one of her colleagues. She really didn't want them to know.

"I didn't know this was your case?" He clearly didn't register that she was in her pyjamas, or maybe he assumed she was a neighbour. It was easier for her to pretend that was all, but it wouldn't be the truth, and she knew that the important thing in these situations was to be truthful.

"Not case, house. For a few months now." She then pointed at the smashed window and the glass on the floor. Once again glad she had socks on. There was glass all over the floor, looking a little like shiny ice in among the carpet. It still didn't help improve her mood. "I was broken into last night." She eventually managed to get out.

"What was taken?" Thankfully, Daniel went straight into being professional, rather than trying to offer her the platitudes that often came along with hearing a colleague had been crossed like this. She'd given those platitudes before, she never would again.

Thinking she was going to have to list off the things that had been stolen from her home made her feel worse, if that was possible. At least she knew that everything had been locked up tight, and the fact she'd been home for the first time in a week meant she hadn't been cleared out. They were the upsides. "A DVD player, one of my purses with about 300$ in it. A photo album, and my car keys."

"They didn't take the car though?" He didn't miss a beat, and that was simple. She, Pride and LaSalle had been at a scene until quite late the night before. Pride had dropped them both off at home before he'd continued back to the office, and the fold out couch. She was both relieved and saddened that he hadn't accepted her offer to sleep in her spare room last night. If he had she wouldn't have to think about explaining this to him.

"No, my car is at work, I got a ride back last night after a scene. I got back late, around 11." She knew that was important, as if the thief had been watching earlier in the evening they could have assumed her house was empty for the night, not that unsurprising on a Saturday night.

"You got other car keys?" That was a fair question, but the truth was she didn't. The car was still relatively new, and she had a year warranty on it, so she would be able to send it back to the dealership and they could replace the locks and the starter. That wouldn't bring back the chain. There was no point talking about that though.

"I'll call the dealership, they should be able to fix it up, and give me a loaner." She hoped they would at least. She'd never actually had her keys stolen before, and she knew that the chances of anything coming back to her was unlikely.

"That's good. We'll do a search but you know how B and E goes." She did, she had spoken to enough robbery detectives and officers over the years to know exactly how that would go down, and she hated that it wasn't likely to go anyway. Not now. It was done, and she was probably just going to have to get used to it.

"I do. The photo album and the keys were really precious to me. If they turn up can you possibly return them to me here?" This would be where they'd be coming back to anyway, she hoped, and maybe she'd be able to find them, and maybe they wouldn't be too badly damaged when she got them back. She didn't want to get her hopes up though, as that probably wasn't the best idea.

Daniel seemed to be a little taken aback by that directive, but she had made the decision. "Not at your office?" She wasn't going to bring this up at work unless she had to. She'd tell Loretta, because she had to, but she'd ask Loretta to keep it quiet.

"No, I'd rather it not be brought up there." He nodded, again seeming to understand why she didn't want to talk about it at work. It just wasn't something she needed. She knew Pride and LaSalle well enough to know they'd want to protect her after this, and that wasn't what she needed.

"Alright, we can do that, did you get a look at them?" It was a standard question, but it made Brody curse herself again, she knew he'd been wearing a mask, but she could have seen something distinguishing. She didn't though, so all she had was a vague description that covered hundreds.

"He was wearing a hood and mask, I can give you basics, but nothing distinguishing." She started sizing the mental image against the men in her life, and she realised he'd probably been taller than both her co-workers, and half the size otherwise. Tall and skinny. "Tall, easily 6 feet, slim. Probably 130 at most."

"Thanks Brody." He replied, slipping is notebook closed and looking around once more. Clearly trying to remember how the room looked now. It wasn't at all like it usually was. She hated the clutter there was now from the techs all over her house.

"Anything I can do to help." Which, it turned out, was very little. It was stupid, but she felt bad for that.

"I'll be in touch if I hear anything." Thankfully the upside to being an agent in the city meant that some of the techs knew of her. After asking them to keep it quiet, they helped her secure some plastic over the window that would hold until she had spoken to Loretta and managed to get someone in to replace the window. After everyone had left she had to choose between attempting to sleep some or clean. Deciding that cleaning could wait she went back up the stairs, deciding attempting to sleep was better than nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Soooooo. I take it people liked this one? Oooosh, Tuesday's episode, a bit intense right. Pride hiding the worst of his dad so Laurel didn't hate her grandfather was really super cute though. Anyway. Back to this now, hope you still enjoy it.  
Shin xx**

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She never got back to sleep. No matter how long Merri had stayed laid there in the bed she hadn't been able to drop back off. Every time she was nearly there she heard a creek, or a crunch, and she bolted upright. She knew that she had to sleep eventually, but that wasn't right now, and it possibly wouldn't be for a while. Eventually she gave up, went and cleaned the lounge before getting ready and heading in to work. Almost the second that she walked through the door Pride noticed she was there earlier, and she once again had to debate whether or not to tell him what had gone on. She stuck to no, because it wasn't the best situation for her to be in.

"You alright?" He asked, and she nodded. Her decision not to tell him was still something she wasn't entirely sure about, but she just felt like it was for the best. After the last few weeks she didn't need them all to think of her as being weaker than she already felt. It was clear though that Pride wasn't stopping looking at her with some concern. "Really?"

"Yeah. Just couldn't sleep well." That was true. After everything that had popped into her mind whenever she'd closed her eyes she hadn't had any further sleep at all. It meant that by this point she was exhausted, and she still had to work all day. "Decided I'd come into work instead."

"You sure? You're looking pale." There was more than a hint of concern in Pride's voice, and Merri had to try and tell herself that he couldn't possibly know anything about what had gone on. The police had agreed not to speak about it with anyone at NCIS, and she hadn't told anyone here.

"It's just lack of sleep, Pride." She waved off his concern, though she was genuinely touched that he was worried about her. That wasn't going to make her change her mind about the previous night, but it did make her just feel a little more confident. "Thanks."

"Alright. I'll lay off." Pride held his hands up as she actually had the chance to sit down. As soon as she heard that she buried herself in the reports from the previous night's crime scene. The one before her apartment.

"She looks sick." LaSalle said, alerting Merri to his presence at all. Maybe she'd missed his greetings, or maybe he was just being his usual charming self, but either way she didn't really feel like going through her highly edited version of the previous nights events again.

Pride apparently just rolled his eyes, Merri could see his exact action in her mind without looking up. "Don't." It was something about how he said it, or the little sigh he let out. At least he was trying to stop LaSalle asking her. Half-heartedly, as it was, but he was trying. "I just went through that with her." He motioned in her direct, and she looked up and sighed, deciding that making a break would likely be the better plan, and it would convince them she wasn't sick.

"I'll hit one or both of you." That was the best she could do, and while she knew Pride wouldn't be fooled, LaSalle would take that as a challenge and would definitely try and make her do it. Which would actually probably help her toward feeling better. Even if just a little. Psychologically she could convince herself she was hitting the thieving git who'd been in her home.

"You wouldn't dare." LaSalle replied, exactly as she'd expected him too, sitting down at his own desk and grinning at her, she had to remember another standing joke, and the first thought was about the phone book she claimed she was saving for when police brutality seemed like a good idea.

"I wouldn't?" She challenged back, trying to keep her tone light. In the mood she was in it was harder than she'd expected it would be. She clearly needed to try and let go more, maybe teasing LaSalle would help a little. "I still have that phone book."

"Bring it on." He exclaimed, jokingly motioning toward her and leaning over. It was probably a good thing that at that moment Pride decided to intervene.

"Stop it you two." She definitely would have ended up taking out the phone book if he hadn't. Mostly because it was a fun idea, and it would help her current stress level.

She sat back, stopping threatening LaSalle even though it was making her feel a little better. She could sense Pride watching her, and she wondered if he just knew that something was off with her. He seemed to have a sixth sense for that, no matter how hard any of them tried to hide it from him. She managed to just bury her head in the paper trail of their victim, finding a way to try and get through the day. When Pride called lunch, she said she needed to go tell Loretta about some damaged pipes at the house, and said she'd meet them later. Walking into the ME's lair Merri was reminded about how her friend had pulled the information about the _Moultrie_ from her in here. Once again she was going to be speaking of things she'd rather not in that blue room. "Loretta, hey. I need to talk to you a sec."

"Sure, there's nobody alive down here." Loretta smiled, turning around in the computer chair and again motioning to their victim. She really didn't need to be reminded of that right now, purely because she was having problems with keep control without remembering that could have been an outcome.

"I need you to keep this quiet." Merri was pretty sure this was the first time she'd actually asked Loretta to keep it between the two of them. She couldn't imagine another conversation where she'd need to. "I don't want LaSalle and Pride or even Sebastian being worried." Sebastian would probably be the one to worry most, actually, when she thought about it.

"Tell me, Merri." The calm and steady voice bolstered Merri enough that she could keep speaking, which was exactly what she'd needed. It helped focus her thoughts and bring her into the room she was in, rather than in her living room the night before.

It still took her some time to collect her thoughts and say it plainly. She wanted to make it sound more dramatic and less dramatic all at once. She just wanted it to be something that would explain why she was so freaked out, rather than being a run of the mill crime that millions had happen to them every week. "Someone broke into the house last night."

"Are you alright?" There was that concern again, the one that made her question what superpower both Pride and Loretta had that meant they were able to tell when someone wasn't alright. She still wasn't going to admit that she was shaken up. She wished she could, but it just wasn't right, and she'd be ok in a few days. Once the shock wore off.

"I'm fine, I had my gun and they didn't get much." Now came the part that Loretta wasn't going to like. Where Merri admitted the damage to the house. It probably wasn't a big deal right now for Loretta, and she'd need to sort out the incident number and everything eventually. "They did, however, break the window in the lounge."

"I have a friend who fixes up all the houses, I'll call him and get him round there today." That would at least mean she'd go home to a house with all it's window's, rather than a piece of plastic covering a hole. "Did they take anything important?"

That question was more personally, and she just shrugged, there was no point talking about the personal nature of what had been taken. They didn't actually matter to anyone but her. "A few knick knacks, my car keys, but my car was here so that was largely useless on their part." That was a relief really, she couldn't afford to buy another car, even after the insurance would have paid out.

"Why don't you want LaSalle and Pride to know?" It was a reasonable question, and that at least she could give an honest and complete answer to. It didn't even have to be edited in her mind.

"Because they'll go all paternalistic worried about me, and I don't need that right now." She didn't, and she probably never would. She knew her friends though, and they were probably worried anyway.

"Alright, I'll keep it between us." Loretta nodded after a few seconds and smiled, putting Merri a little more at ease.

"Thanks." She was genuinely thankful, and happy that there hadn't been any need to clarify it beyond why she already had, as anything more would have made her sound nuts. Or, more nuts than she usually sounded.

"Did you at least call the police?" Loretta asked, the only thing noticeable in her voice was that same strand of concern and sympathy that she'd maintained ever since Merri had entered her temple.

"Of course I did." That was surely a very stupid question, though maybe given the fact that Merri was refusing to tell the majority of their de-facto family unit it wasn't surprising that Loretta felt she needed to ask. "Do you need the incident number for your insurance on the house."

She waved that off, obviously just relieved that Merri hadn't tried to do everything on her own. There were some things even _she_ knew she needed help for. "I'll get it from you later."

"Thanks for understanding Loretta." Merri was truly thankful for that. She had been sure that she'd be pushed into telling at least Pride, but instead of doing that Loretta had just taken it all on the chin and not told her to do anything.

"Any time you want to talk, Merri." That was Loretta's standing offer, and she knew it was something that was shared between everyone who worked within reach of the ME. She would listen to everything and anything, and that was something Merri normally appreciated.

"I'll keep that in mind." And she would. When she was prepared to speak about the fact she was exhausted and terrified she'd speak. It was all seeming worse purely on account of how tired she was. She knew that that would end soon, and she would be so very happy with that when it did. For now she clearly just needed to accept that she wasn't ready to tell, and that was fine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, this story has somewhat taken on a life of it's own. I'm a few chapters on writing (at Chapter 7) and I think I'm only **_**maybe**_** halfway through. So I hope you're in for a long haul XD.  
Shin xx**

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This was the second day running where Brody had come to work pale as a ghost and been snappy with everyone. Thankfully, as seemed to happen whenever they interviewed a family with a small child, she'd been brightened up by that. Which had given Christopher time to research and him time to talk to the wife. But Pride was worried, because it wasn't like Brody to be this way.

She claimed she wasn't sick, and that there was nothing bothering her, but something was. He might not know the most about her, but he knew _her_. She was completely dedicated to her work, and she was always professional about everything. Not right now though. She was snapping at him, snapping at LaSalle, she was muttering under her breath and arguing with her screens. So as soon as she wasn't in the office he decided to see if LaSalle had noticed anything off about their junior agent and friend. "Does Brody seem off to you?"

"I think she's lying about being sick, if that's what you mean?" The fact that LaSalle had noticed that much said something. He was a fantastic agent, but sometimes he didn't pay attention to the things right under his nose. If Brody was off even to him, it said there was probably something going on.

"I guess." He did kind of think that it was something about her being ill. Not that he thought she was sick, he just thought she was bit off her game. Maybe she needed some leave. After the last few weeks, all the emotions that had been begun over the _Moultrie_ and the death of Agent Hackett, then everything else they had spoken about. All he knew right now was that there was something going on with her. What it was he didn't know. There was a chance that LaSalle did, but he wouldn't keep it from their boss. "I think There's something bothering her." He mused, hoping that he was just worrying for no reason.

LaSalle clearly thought he was, at least that was the impression that his shrug gave. It wasn't always the easiest to decipher, which made Pride glad that after a few seconds he spoke. "She's had a hard couple of weeks, is it surprising the stress got to her." That was essentially what Pride's more sensible mind was saying too. It was all stress and he shouldn't worry too much. "After this case give her a couple days off and she'll be fine."

"That's my hope." He had to admit, he really hoped that she'd take a few days off after the case. Maybe go anywhere in the city that wasn't related to work. Given that almost all her friends here were through work though, he wasn't sure she had anywhere she could go. He would send Laurel to help if he needed to, his daughter adored Brody, and it was clear that the feeling was mutual.

"Where is she, actually?" LaSalle brought up a very good point. He didn't know where she'd gone when she left the office, she hadn't been heading out of the building, which meant she was here somewhere. Where was a more interesting question.

"Brody? I don't know." He admitted, then his eyes were drawn to the upper conference room, where the wife and son of their victim were sat waiting on news, on any kind of break in the case. Pride hoped he'd be able to fix something for them. Fixing their situation might be easier than fixing Brody's right now. "Keep an eye on them, I've offered for them to stay here until we know anything."

"Where you going?" Came after him even as he began across the bullpen toward the stairs. If there was anywhere obvious that Brody would go, upstairs was the best choice. It was quiet there, and if she had the stress of work, and everything else she was dealing with, he'd want to be in the quiet.

"To find her." He said simply, giving LaSalle one of Pride's own shrugs. there was no doubt a good reason for why Brody had disappeared, but Pride still wanted to know that it was. He also wanted to know that she was OK, because that was more of the worry now. She seemed to be more broken than usual, living under a perpetual rain cloud. He didn't want anyone to live like that, and he'd try to help as much as he could.

It wasn't until he reached the back office that he saw any trace of her, she was actually curled up in the corner of the pull out sofa he normally slept on. He hadn't put it up the night before, which meant she'd had easy access to somewhere. She looked calm, and somewhat peaceful, but it was the middle of the day, and sleeping right now was probably a bad idea, especially if she was going to get a full night sleep. "Brody? Wake up."

"What?" She mumbled sleepily, he then put his hand on her back and gave her a gentle shake, trying to keep it soft but making sure he was firm in the act that she really needed to wake up again. It wasn't the right time to be asleep.

"You fell asleep." He smiled, patting her back gently with the hand he rested there as she stretched out and started to battle herself back to being awake. He wasn't sure if this should make him more concerned, or if he should just let it go. She'd said that sleep wasn't working for her lately. This all seemed more than that though.

"Yeah, I've not been sleeping very well." Pride was beginning to wonder if that actually meant that she hadn't slept at all. That seemed like a reasonable hypothesis right now, given that she had bags under her eyes, and even though she'd just woken up she was clearly trying not to yawn before continuing speaking. "I came to sit in the quiet and then this happened."

"So, how come you're not sleeping?" He tried to sound sensitive, and as if he was asking as a friend and nothing more. He was proud of her in general as she managed to get through everything that was pushed in front of her, but this might be one thing too far. That wouldn't diminish her in his eyes, it would actually give him a boost, and he'd be even prouder.

"Just nightmares, bad dreams." At this stage of sleeplessness, he could be fairly certain that she wasn't lying about that. She just didn't seem like in the position she's in she'd be able to lie to him, whether it was purposefully or reflexly, she was too sleepy to be lying. It was actually a little cute. He didn't like hearing she was having nightmares still though.

It was obvious they were plaguing her, and she'd mentioned a few things about nightmares from her time about the _Moultrie_, and he didn't know what else there might be in her mind. Everyone in their line of work had nightmares at one time or another. He did, always had, and he didn't know if they'd ever stop. "That's it? Still from the _Moultrie_?"

"What?" She snapped, then clearly thought over what he'd just said. He had a question about what else he could be referring too, but he decided not to push the issue. That seemed like a good idea as a second later Brody remembered, without any prompt from him. "Oh. Yeah. Mostly."

"You know I'm always around if you need me, there's no need to suffer alone." He hated the idea that she even possibly thought she needed to suffer alone. He hoped none of his agents ever felt that way. He was there, and he hoped that she'd feel happier to talk to him if he told her straight out that she could."

"Thanks Pride." She sat up a little more, shaking his hand off in the process. As soon as she started hugging her knees he reached out and put his hand on her arm in a gesture of support this time. Hoping that she took some strength from it. "I just need to try and settle to sleep a little more."

"Well then, I suggest you get up now, then maybe you'll sleep tonight." At least she could try to sleep better. It wasn't guaranteed, but it was possible. Obviously she didn't think she could, or would, but he did. More than that he just knew that sleeping right now was a bad idea, and he needed to make sure she got up rather than laid down and slept again.

"Maybe." She didn't sound entirely confident about that, and he once again realised that she was humouring him. She didn't expect to sleep when she got home. "Thanks for waking me." She commented quietly, and he just squeezed her arm before smiling.

"Any time." Seeing all of this, King knew there was a lot more to the story that Brody wasn't telling him. He didn't blame her if she wanted it to be kept secret, but she was beginning to endanger herself and risk the quality of her work. If she kept coming in on little to no sleep he was going to start insisting she have a sleep in the office before doing any work. This wasn't good for any of them, though, and he was worried about her.


	4. Chapter 4

**So, I'm posting this early because StephNCIS begged me on Tumblr. As usual I am enjoying torturing my favourites. Sooooo... I would apologise for the end of this chapter, only I really don't. You'll get chapter 5 on Friday.  
Shin xx**

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After the last few hours Pride was just glad that there was movement. He was glad that LaSalle had called him down when he had. It wasn't the easiest moment, and seeing Brody as broken as she was was giving Pride problems being objective. "What's so important Christopher?"

"King, we got a location." That was more than the small movement he'd been expecting. He'd been expecting a name, or anything like that. To already have a location he was already ready to go. He just wanted to get this case closed, because then he could put some focus on to Brody, and try and figure out what was going on with her past the obvious. He knew there was something. What it was though, she'd managed to hide shockingly well.

"Where?" he asked, and as LaSalle pointed to a point on the southern edge of the city Pride nodded, making a decision. Given that Brody had only just woken up he thought it would be best if they take a few seconds to collect herself and wake up properly. She was supposed to just be upstairs freshening herself up, so hopefully she wouldn't be long. "Head down there, I'll wait on Brody and meet you there."

"She OK for this?" LaSalle asked, clearly worried about her too. Pride was sure that she'd be ready for this. she'd never shied away from situations like this, in fact they were one of the times she was truly in her element. he could understand LaSalle's worry though. If it was anyone else, Pride would have considered pulling her from duty, but he knew that would backfire with Brody, and she'd end up doing something stupid to stop it.

"She's fine." He said more forcefully, wanting to try and drill that into LaSalle's mind. It needed to be something that he accepted. While it was obvious he wanted to ask something again, Pride knew that the time-sensitive nature of their information would mean he'd let it drop, for now.

"See you in twenty." LaSalle said, grabbing his gear off his table and casting one more furtive look up to the back corridor. It was all worry, Pride knew that, but it still worried him. What if they were all focusing on Brody more than they were the suspect. That would be bad at best, it would be deadly at worst.

"Yes you will." He nodded, following LaSalle out of the room with his eyes then he stopped in the middle of the bullpen and turned his head toward the corridor down which he knew Brody was cleaning herself up. Now they had someone to speak to about this death hopefully they really could clear it all up. "Brody, come on. We have a suspect to arrest." He figured that would be the easiest way to spur her into joining him.

"Coming, sorry. I was cleaning up." She did look cleaner, she'd clearly changed her shirt to one that she'd stored in one of the top offices. She looked slightly more refreshed too. Maybe it was the conversation she'd needed, or maybe the power nap. Either way he was just happy that they had had that all done and sorted. "Where's LaSalle?" She asked as she reached the bottom of her steps and started to her desk and where she had her equipment.

At least she was gearing up, and not telling him that she shouldn't, or couldn't, make this journey. They both knew that was shit, but she would have tried if she hadn't been ready. "He's already left, we're meeting him there."

"OK, I'm ready." She said, then headed straight to their cars without another beat. He just followed her and decided it was probably best that he not push her too much right now. Getting her into the car and on the way might seem like the best idea right this moment.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" He waited a little while before asking, making sure they were on the road and on the way to the location before saying anything. He just wanted to hear her say that she was ready for this. That she was going to be able to focus on what they needed to do rather than what she was going through, whatever that was.

"I don't honestly know." That wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, so he took a chance and turned to look at her out of the corner of his eye. That was enough to show him that she was steeling herself, ready for what she was going to need to do when they reached this suspect. "But I will be when we get there." She eventually finished, and he heard a little more of the familiar grit in her voice.

"Good." That was the only thing he felt he could say to that. He trusted her to do her job, she always had before, and he was sure she always would. It was her who needed the self confidence, and even if he tried he wasn't going to be able to give her that. She needed to give it to herself.

"I'm not trying to screw up on purpose." Brody said after a few more minutes of silence, and Pride wondered if that was something she was holding over herself. It wouldn't actually surprise him if she was.

"I know." He didn't know how she could think that he thought she was screwing up on purpose. As a matter of fact, he didn't even think she was screwing up. There were things that happened in life that people couldn't anticipate, and it was how they dealt with them. He left things hanging, not wanting to say any more. It was easier to let her work it out.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair angrily. He just let her huff and puff for a second, knowing that she'd spit out whatever it was that had come into her mind and caused that reaction. "I just hate that I can't sleep and it's messing with my ability to do my job." That was a reasonable complaint, he suffered through that problem before on his own.

"Don't let it." Maybe that was simplifying everything. But he knew that the force of thought could sometimes keep someone from making a mistake, or doing something stupid. Maybe if she focused on that it would be enough.

"That's easier said than done." Brody frowned, and he had to think of a way to say it.

"Focus on catching this killer, then you can focus on whatever is stopping you from sleeping." While he didn't know what it was that was stopping her from sleeping, he knew that distraction worked, that she would be able to do her job as best she could, then she could focus on the sleeping, and everything else that went along with it.

"It's not that simple." She started, and Pride just held his hand up, not letting her say anything more.

"Yes, it is." He knew that, only because he'd been there himself. His own desire to catch the killers and criminals in the navy had stopped him from addressing anything at all.

Brody obviously completely disagreed with him, and that once again made him feel sure that there was something else going on. "No, Pride, it's not. But I'll try." At least she was going to try. All he wanted was for her to feel better.

"That's the most I can ask." He was certain she would do her best.

"Thanks for looking out for me." She muttered quietly, and he was a little taken aback for a moment. There was something about the fact she felt she needed to thank someone for caring said a lot about the people she'd been with.

"Always, you're part of my family now." They had all decided that a long time ago, Brody seemed to be the only one who was struggling to adjust to that. It wasn't all that surprising, but still. She was family now.

"I'm still getting used to that." Pride didn't know that much about her life. He knew about her sister, that she'd once been engaged and that her parents were somewhat distant. He was fairly sure that their miniature family was the only family she'd ever had. "I haven't been part of a family in a long time." She said a moment later, confirming his suspicion.

"Well, you are now." He continued, glad that she wasn't trying to deny that she was part of their family. It was a good thing for him, because he then would have had to argue with her, and as they approached the house where their suspect had been traced to he knew he'd run out of time for that. Stopping a little behind the trees he opened his door then nodded forward. "Let's go."

They kitted up in silence, joining LaSalle at the back of his car. They all pulled on their kevlar, and Pride took the opportunity to keep an eye on Brody, she seemed focused and certain of what she was doing. That was all Pride needed to know for sure. He was sure that she wouldn't make anything more dangerous than it already would be given their job, as they approached the house she nodded at the corner. "I'll take the back."

"I'll go to the side." LaSalle said a second later, darting past Pride to the far side of the building, where Pride realised there were steps to another door. Hopefully there were only the three, otherwise they'd run out of agents to cover them.

"NCIS open up." He knocked loudly, hearing it echoed all around as LaSalle and Brody both hit the doors they'd been checking. Everything was still in the house, until there was sudden movement in the corner of his eyes, and the suspect they'd tracked here ran toward the back, where the other agents were. "Brody, LaSalle. Heads up."

A second passed, then another. There was quiet and calm. Then all hell broke loose, and Pride had to try and maintain the situation, and the grip on his own emotions. There was a shot and two bodies fell unmoving to the ground. He raced forward, more than a little afraid of what he was going to find when he got there. Holding his breath he realised this was worse than he'd imagined.


	5. Chapter 5

Hearing the go ahead, Brody hammered on the door she was stood in front of then pushed it open upon getting no answer. "NCIS, hands up!" She shouted ahead of her, but she wasn't sure anyone but her fellow agents could hear her. Stepping into the darkness, she gave her eyes a second to readjust. The building once they were inside was as spartan and destroyed as the outside made it appear. From where she was stood she could see LaSalle on her left, but she couldn't see Pride through a partition.

"Brody, LaSalle. Head's up!" She heard suddenly, then she heard the scuffling sounds of feet heading directly for her. She tried to get herself into a position where she could protect herself, but she was too slow, and she could tell.

"Stop!" She shouted as the suspect ran toward her, she made a choice then. Even though she had a clear shot she wasn't going to take it. She could take him down without killing him, that was certain. Her weapon went flying long before she could squeeze the trigger, so she ended up held in some sort of choke hold wrestle with the suspect. She felt herself going lightheaded when he slammed her to the floor, hitting her head in the process. It was in the moments before the darkness too her that she dimly heard a gunshot ring out through the cramped space.

"Brody." The relentless voice was the first thing she was conscious of hearing again. As she heard the word repeated she groaned loudly, then tried to move, only to be forcibly held still. It was only then she opened her eyes and met one of the most glorious sights she'd ever seen. "Meredith. Are you conscious? Don't move." She was held in place once again, and this time she just gave up struggling.

"Barely." She blinked a few times, trying to clear her head, but everything was fuzzy and she wasn't even entirely sure where she was. As she closed her eyes little snapshots came back, but not enough information for her to figure out where and why she was here. "Where am I?"

She opened her eyes in time to see the hints of fear and worry cross over his face. At least she remembered who she was, and who the people in her life were. She hoped he wouldn't worry too much. This was probably all temporary. After a few seconds he clearly realised he did need to answer her, and he took a breath and spoke calmly. "The suspect's place, he attacked you." That brought back a few memories. She was grabbed, in a choke hold then thrown. She'd barely been able to think. There had been a shot though, and she didn't remember why.

"Who shot?" She asked, straining against her mind to recall the memories of who had been in the building with her. There was nothing at all coming to her though. Not cohesively. She was seeing the occasional snapshots of the situation, but she was fairly sure none of it was in order.

"LaSalle." Pride smiled again at her, and she just laid there, thinking about how she was feeling. Mostly because everything hurt. Her arms, legs, stomach, chest. Absolutely everything hurt. Pride was still talking though, and she started listening again. "He saw you struggling, waited until he got a clear shot."

"I feel like I'm being sat on by a horse." She tried to move again, but those same too hands were somehow managing to hold her still. The buzzing in her mind seemed to stop for a second, but the mist rolled back in a second later. She really wasn't very with it right now.

"Don't move, you were thrown pretty hard and he landed on you." Pride squeezed her shoulders, clearly trying to convince her that everything was fine, he was there. That did make her feel a little better, but she also wanted to move, to get away. "We've paramedics coming now."

"The suspect?" She asked, finally giving up the hope of moving. King would hold her in place, and she was sure it would hurt more if she did move anyway. She was stupid, but she still hated pain. It wasn't ever going to be something that she decided to do by choice, cause herself pain.

"Chris is dealing with him." Pride shook his head, making it obvious that she didn't need to do anything that would make her feel uncomfortable. Right now all she wanted was for her memory to clear a little more. Now she could remember why they were there, and why she was feeling so crappy.

"Alive?" She had to ask, but she didn't really care. He'd led to her being here, and she was feeling too much ill will toward him to really care if he was alive or not. At the same time, their victim deserved justice.

"Yes. For now. He didn't have a weapon." That was good. But he definitely did have a weapon, they were just the ones attached to his body. Maybe he couldn't pull a trigger, but he'd obviously done a lot of damage with what he did have.

"Other than his hands, and feet, and bulk." Her current condition was the evidence of his skill with those weapons. She hated that this was a thing, and she also hated that she was angry about it.

"He had you pinned." Came the explanation, and maybe that explained why she felt like there was a tank parked on her. After a few seconds though, she realised the fog of her head injury was clearing a little. She could think again.

That brought her memory back full force. She could have taken the shot when he ran for her, but she decided not to. It had been a choice, a massively stupid one. She didn't even know why she'd made that choice herself. "I didn't shoot." She muttered, hoping that he both didn't hear her and did. At least if he heard her she'd have to answer to someone.

"What?" Pride asked, making it obvious he heard, but didn't comprehend. He had just told her that LaSalle took the shot. So obviously she hadn't. The look he was giving her made her want to explain it to him, not so he'd understand, but so he'd know.

"I could have shot." She admitted, and she noticed that his face didn't change. He still clearly didn't understand what she meant, so she said it clearer. "I could have and didn't. I wanted to fight him." It hadn't helped like she'd thought it might. She just felt like an idiot.

"No, King, he's gone." She heard LaSalle speak, and while she knew what he meant they didn't register immediately. Someone was gone, and she had to try and focus properly. The interruption at least gave her enough time for Pride to stop telling her off for her stupid decision.

"NCIS to base. Update. We now have one injured." There was some kind of acknowledgement, and then the last words Pride said on the radio told her what had happened. "Notify the coroner."

"He died?" she asked, just to be absolutely certain. She was pretty sure that was what they said, but all of that wasn't connecting in her mind. Most of the fog had now lifted, but obviously not all of it.

"Yeah. What the hell were you thinking, Meredith?" He clearly hadn't been as distracted as she hoped. The way he said her name was softer than she'd expected. That was probably just because she was hurt, and he wasn't letting her move. The truth was that there had been no thoughts involved whatsoever. There was just pain and stupidity.

"Wasn't. Couldn't do anything else." She meant standing her ground, rather than letting him go. She could have shot him, but she had made it clear already she thought that she wasn't interested in doing that.

"You did plenty, it's why you were unconscious." He dropped his chin to his chest, and rubbed one of his hands over his eyes. When he'd composed himself or hidden his anger or whatever he'd done he looked at her seriously and frowned. "That was stupid."

Being told that, she couldn't disagree. She'd made a stupid choice, and she was going to have to deal with that. Pride was being far nicer than she would have been in his position. She just couldn't believe herself, why had she made such a bad decision? "It was, but what else was I supposed to do?" That was again a bad question, and would just remind him how bad she could be.

"Shout for backup." He pressed, not letting her get away with shifting blame off her own stupidity.

"You were both too far away." That was just an excuse. They both knew she was talking out of her asshole. LaSalle hadn't been too far away at all, he'd been 10 feet at most. She wasn't going to say anything right then there.

"No, we weren't." Pride was at least calm about correcting her. She probably would not have been that calm if it was any other situation. She really needed to pull her head out of her own ass and stop being so proud. He'd just want to help her if he could. "We would have been there in seconds. Stop trying to move."

"I'm uncomfortable." Brody complained a second later. She really didn't want to stay still. She had never been good at staying in one position.

"I'd rather you be uncomfortable then be paralysed or dead." He said that as quietly as he could, and she barely caught it. There was so much she could reply to that, but she wouldn't. Just in case.

At that moment a sliver of daylight hit her from behind and she realised that someone had opened the door. A second later a voice made her realise it was probably the paramedics. "Agent Pride." One of them said, and the gently pressure from one of her shoulders as he waved them over.

"Yeah, we're over here." Then his eyes slid back to hers, and she realised that no matter how much he was scolding her right now he was still just worried about her health. She was fine, she already knew that. "Look, the Paramedics are here. So you're going to the hospital, and I'll send LaSalle to check on you soon."

"Fine." She wasn't in the mood to argue, she answered all the questions and did as the paramedics told her, then once she was on the stretcher she looked around, spotting Pride coming to stand over her again before she was wheeled out. As he stopped by the side of her, she felt his hand slip into hers, and she asked the only question she could think of. "I'll see you later though, right?"

"You will. When I'm all cleared up here." He leant down and kissed her forehead gently then squeezed her hand back hard. As he dropped it to let them wheel her away she realised exactly how much she missed that contact, and how much she had probably screwed everything up by taking a stupid risk. She was just going to have to try and deal with things in a healthier way.


	6. Chapter 6

LaSalle had been alternating between hovering over her and standing a distance away essentially heckling her. At least it seemed to be quiet in this part of the ER right now. She was glad that Pride had stayed at the scene or she would have had to deal with a lot more judgement than she was prepared for right now. Clearly, her partner picked up on some of her current anxiety about Pride, but misinterpreted it as her being angry he'd sent her to the hospital. "He was right to send you here, you know?"

"I know." She ended up agreeing. In his role as her boss he had done the right thing. That didn't mean she needed to be happy about it. She just really hated hospitals, and it was why she'd refused to be admitted. She had discharge instructions, and she was sure she could depend on one of her colleagues to spend the night with her if she needed them to.

"You have a concussion, Brody." LaSalle said, clearly thinking that she needed to be reminded. She didn't. Probably the last thing she was going to need for the next few hours was being reminded that her brain had been all shaken up. The doctors were happy to send her home though.

"A very mild one." She replied, shaking her head. She probably shook her brain up more doing that than the attack had done. She could understand the caution and the worry though. She just wished they wouldn't worry. Brody had looked after herself for a long time before she'd met Dwayne Pride and Christopher LaSalle. That wasn't enough for them not to worry.

"The lump on your head says differently." It was a little more than a lump. She'd had a deep gash that they'd put staples in more than an hour earlier. she barely felt them now, other than her head being itchy. She was going to be wearing hats for the next 10 days. Just to try and make it a little less noticeable.

"I was discharged, LaSalle." She felt the need to make that point again. He would have been happy to see her admitted for the night, but she really didn't want to have to stay here. It wasn't what she wanted, and it wasn't where she'd be comfortable. She'd heal better at home, or at the office. "I didn't walk out, I didn't go against medical advice."

"You know King ain't gonna see it that way." LaSalle pointed out, and Brody knew he was correct. Pride was going to threaten to bring her straight back. She wasn't coming though. She was definitely going to be staying in a non-hospital bed tonight.

She held up the papers that she'd been given by a nurse a little while earlier. It had all the instructions for her result through the night, and then they also had when she'd need to come to get the staples removed from the back of her head. "That's why I have my discharge paperwork."

"I'm not sure that'll placate him." She wasn't sure it would either, but she was also sure that she wasn't going to let his worry dictate what she do. At the scene he hadn't left her side until he'd had to, and then she'd seen that he didn't go far. He'd been afraid for her, and that was a new experience. "He was real worried about you." LaSalle made the same point she'd just thought about.

"Look I'm fine." That was all she could really say. She was fine, she wasn't going to fall over unconscious any minute. She had fought the bad guy and come off only slightly better. If LaSalle hadn't taken the shot, she probably wouldn't be here now. She'd be somewhere in the morgue. Another body on Loretta's table.

"You've not been fine for days Brody, I can see that." Alright, he had a point, and she'd maybe been treating them as less than they were, but she wasn't ready to tell them about the break in. She was too proud now, and they would ask why she hadn't told them earlier. As she stayed silent it was obvious LaSalle lost patience. "What's been going on?"

"Nothing." LaSalle didn't buy that, and she couldn't entirely blame him. She worked with good agents who knew how to discover things, that included observing when one of the people they worked with wasn't at her best. At least she had a cover story ready made by the _Moultrie_ investigation. Sure it had been concluded, in her favour, but she still wasn't feeling right. Or at least that was her story. "I've been having nightmares since the _Moultrie_ investigation was re-opened. Remembering the things that I did, or didn't do. It's meant I've not been sleeping too good." That wasn't a lie, she really hadn't been sleeping well.

"We all have nightmares sometimes, you can speak to us." She guessed that in their line of work that shouldn't be as surprising as it was. They saw some of the worst in people, so why wouldn't they have nightmares.

"I will, next time. I think I'll sleep tonight." She was almost certain that she'd sleep, if only because she'd likely be kept at the office, and she felt safe there. Not only was she in one of the safest buildings in New Orleans, she was also going to be in the same building as Pride, and something about him made her feel safe and protected.

"The drugs they got you all hopped up on, I'd hope so." She was only on some painkillers, but they had made her a little loopier than usual. Not by much, but obviously enough to be slightly noticeable. She was wondering what he'd tease her about next, but suddenly he turned serious, and she wondered if there was something else to what he was thinking. "What went on with your car, by the way?"

She shrugged. That wasn't a cover story she had ready, but she could think of something simple. She was sure of that. Simple was probably the easiest thing to remember too. "I lost the keys, had to get everything replaced." She had had to get everything replaced, so that was also right there with the truth.

"Well, that blows." There was a talent for understatement that the people in this city demonstrated. It was something that Brody would never be able to emulate, but she appreciated the combined sass of everyone in the entire city.

"Yeah, they'll even probably show up eventually." She tried to shrug it off, but she was fairly sure something caught in her voice. Thankfully at that moment a nurse had walked in with the painkillers Brody was to keep taking.

"You can hope. Come on, I'll get you back to the office." She was about to complain at that, but then realised that he was probably under orders from King to take her back to the office if she was discharged tonight. "You're not driving yourself anywhere tonight. That is in your discharge instructions."

"Indeed, I saw that. Thank you LaSalle." She was only a little bit sarcastic. That was all at the reminder too. She was genuinely thankful that he was here to collect her and drive her back to the office. She could get a taxi or something from there home.

"Any time Brody." He replied, with an equal amount of sarcasm. At least if they were going to be sarcastic, doing it together was the more sensible plan. She had an involuntary stab of emotional pain as she remembered how she'd have similar conversation with Emily growing up, and she realised again how similar her twin and LaSalle were.

"Pride's going to kill me." She said simply, and she knew it was true. She would take any criticism he levelled at her after this. She had made a very stupid choice and she still wasn't sure why she had made it.

LaSalle looked at her, confusion all over his face. Clearly he hadn't heard the conversation she'd been having with Pride while she'd been laid on the floor. Maybe he'd been busy clearing the house, or maybe he'd just tried not to overhear and had succeeded. "It wasn't your fault."

"It was." She just nodded, and she didn't want to continue with her thought, but the words had tumbled from her mouth before she could recall them. That made this problem a lot bigger than she'd expected it to be. "We all know that." She waited for the explosion, but apparently LaSalle decided to write it off to her slightly medicated brain.

"You're high as balls Brody." He laughed, then pulled her to her feet, waiting for her to be steadied again. At least she was going to be heading somewhere. She really wasn't high though, she was just a little buzzed and surprisingly pain free and comfortable.

"I'm not, I'm just buzzed and pain free." That had been a good thing to say, but LaSalle clearly wasn't paying any attention whatsoever.

"Let's get you back to the office." He grinned and started leading them out of the department, winking at the nurse he'd been flirting with since he came in to check on her. No doubt he had her number too by now.

"That's a bad idea." She shook her head, deciding that it was probably best that she say nothing and just let him take her now. If she didn't she'd have to actually stay in the hospital. Sure she wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Pride, or the inevitable fallout that was going to come when they spoke. She didn't feel the need to tell LaSalle why it was her fault, but Pride knew, and he would make sure that she knew how unhappy he was. That was what she had to look forward to.


	7. Chapter 7

**So some sibling-type bonding in the last chapter. This one is very much not sibling bonding, but finally Pride and LaSalle learn about Brody's situation.  
Shin xx**

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The last thing Pride had expected right that minute was Brody showing up through the door, LaSalle following a few minutes later. Clearly the senior agent knew Pride needed to talk to the junior, though, and headed straight through to the interrogation rooms, no doubt to get a good look at the guy the others had brought in. As soon as LaSalle was out of earshot, Pride looked to Brody and frowned, a little concerned she was already here. "You alright?"

"They let me go, LaSalle drove me back." He'd have to check with her fitness reports at the end of the week whether or not she was actually let go or if it was more a case of '_I left_'. He knew her well enough to have discovered both her aversion to hospitals and her incredibly high pain threshold. "It's just bad bruising."

"Nothing broken?" He asked, hoping that he came across as being concerned about her. She had been so quiet, and so confused when last he'd seen her. Now she just seemed to be pissed off or angry at the universe. He was pretty sure that would be the headache she had now, but also probably some of that was aimed at him for making her go to the hospital in the first place.

"Nothing physically." She replied, and something about that sent a red flag up in his mind. The flag was flying higher than he ever would have expected it to. So there were no physically broken parts of her. Was she hinting that maybe she was more broken emotionally and mentally than anything. It was something he was going to need to know.

"What's that supposed to mean." Pride asked, hoping that she'd give him a straight answer. Life would be easier if a straight answer happened. She looked at him seriously for a few seconds, and the longer she held his gaze the more he realised that nothing was OK for his junior field agent.

She shook her head, then winced. Clearly he was right about the headache, and that didn't surprise him at all. He was certain that she had been given painkillers, but maybe they hadn't kicked in entirely, or maybe the headache was just worse than she wanted to admit. He was never sure when it came to her. At least she was answering his question. "Nothing. They did say I should go home and rest though."

"We will be talking about this in the morning." He wasn't going to let her brush what had happened under the carpet. Hide away from the situations, run away without running. They had proven that that didn't work.

"Yeah, whatever." She dismissed him, but was gone out the door before he had chance to realise what she'd said. It was so out of her normal character that he'd been too taken aback at first to say anything at all.

"Anyone know what got into her?" He asked, not even sure if there was anyone else in the room. He'd just needed to say something as he still looked at the archway where she'd walked out. Given her car was trapped in, he assumed that she was hailing a cab, and he could probably catch her.

Which was exactly what he was planning to do when he heard a voice from the corner of the room, and Loretta stepped into the light. "I might." She said quietly, and Pride just looked at her, wondering what she knew he didn't.

"Speak." He dragged out, hoping that would be enough to get Loretta talking, and let her know that it was the right thing to do. The welfare of his agents was his first priority. He didn't care if they were into something questionable. If he knew about it he could combat it. That was the more important thing, and it was how he'd run this department since he'd been involved in starting it, all those years ago.

"The house was broken into a few days ago." She announced, but before he could start thinking why she hadn't told him Loretta had started speaking again. "Merri was fine, she said nothing important was taken. I think it might have affected her more than I thought."

"A simple burglary pushed her this far?" He asked rhetorically. He wasn't sure if that was really the only motivation. This just didn't seem like her

"She's had to come to face with a lot of things recently." That was true, she finally told the truth about a part of her life she'd been running from for close to a decade. The _Moultrie_ and the situations around it had been a dark cloud over her. Add on everything else, and maybe it wasn't so surprising. "It doesn't take much during a time of heightened emotions to be pushed into freefall." They had all seen evidence of that before.

He had to admit that what she said made sense. Even though he didn't want to admit that it did. The last couple of weeks had been hard for her, and he probably hadn't kept an eye on her as closely as he usually would have done. He'd gotten too caught up in Cassius and Laurel and other things. "When did she tell you?"

"The morning after, I'm her landlord she needed to let me know." That also made sense. Pride often forgot that Brody rented one of Loretta's guest houses. It seemed that Loretta was annoyed at herself for not realising that their friend wasn't coping as well as she'd thought. "She seemed fine at the time."

"Not your fault, but she's clearly not fine now." That was all he could say about the situation. Then he remembered she'd gone home alone, and she would have nobody to keep an eye on her tonight. "I'm going to go check on her, find out what's really going on in that mind of hers."

"Be gentle Dwayne." She advised him, and he understood why. Loretta would know that Brody would be fragile, and she also knew that he could be a tactless bull in a china shop sometimes. He would try to be gentle to her this time though.

"I will." He squeezed Loretta's hand, glad that his old friend had clued him in to what had caused this spiral to begin. the fact that she hadn't come to him or anyone else worried him even further. They were a family, and they should stick together even in the hard times.

The drive to her place he sat stewing over what was going on in her mind to think she could or should go through this all on her own. Suddenly the lack of sleep was explained, and he wondered if her mistake earlier at the suspect's home was actually a conscious decision, or if she'd been so traumatised by what she'd been through over the last few weeks that she had just done something stupid. As soon as he arrived at her place he was glad to see the light on, so he ran up the steps and started hammering on the door as hard as he could, when she didn't answer after a few minutes he shouted as loudly as he could. "Brody, open the door."

"No, go away." She yelled back, closer than she should have if she wasn't right behind the door. He couldn't see through it, but he was almost certain that she was just there, the relatively thin wood being the only thing separating the two of them. So rather than shouting again, he lowered his voice and started trying to control the panic in his voice.

"Meredith." He tried again, using her given name rather than her surname, just in case that helped her realise that he wasn't here to cause trouble for her. He just wanted to check on her, to know that she was alright. Especially after today and the attitude that she'd been throwing at him.

"I'm not at work, you can't order me about here." She replied, also much quieter, telling him that he'd been right she was just behind the door. Of course she was right, he couldn't give her an order here, and really he didn't like to order at work either. Right now he just wanted to look after her.

"I'm not ordering you, I'm worried about you." He would beg if he could, but he wasn't sure if that would work. It seemed that they were beginning to draw the attention of Brody's neighbours, many of whom had come to stand and watch him, stood at her door like an idiot. "Please. Let me in." He asked quietly, hoping that was enough to convince her.

"Loretta told you, huh?" She asked as she unlocked the door and let him past her. He then turned in time to see her wave a calming hand at her neighbours then shut the door and looked back to him before showing him through to the lounge where she'd clearly been sat when he'd arrived.

"She was worried about you to, we all were." The last thing he wanted was for Brody to be angry at Loretta over the fact that she'd told him. Everyone was worried that Brody hadn't been her usual self, and that had meant they had been keeping an eye on her past what they usually did. When he thought again about what had happened earlier at the house, and what she'd said to him while she'd been on the floor, he couldn't really believe it was her. "It's not like you to go into a situation like that without backup."

"Pride" She said, making him stop speaking. Her next reply was barely audible, and it completely halted however annoyed or angry he was at her. It was a pathetic child voice, one he'd heard a dozen agents defend a dozen things in. With her it didn't sound as contrived, as defensive. She just sounded broken. "I thought I could handle it."

He held his arms open and motioned to her, hoping that she'd accept his gesture of friendship. "Come here." He said, and a second later she was stood close enough for him to wrap her up. However awkward it was at first it quickly became much more natural, and she ended up clinging to the back of his shirt.

"I don't know what I'm doing Pride." That has seemed obvious, but he didn't say anything more than giving her an encouraging mumble. He hoped she'd just continue talking, telling him what her problems were. He could only fix them if he knew what she was struggling with. "I just can't seem to handle this idea that maybe this was meant to happen."

"What actually happened?" He couldn't believe right now that she'd told Loretta everything. She seemed far too reckless for that to be it. He was somewhat afraid to find out what happened, but at the same time he knew he needed to know, and he suspected that Brody needed to say it.

"It wasn't what happened, it was what they took. Emily's things." That suddenly explained a lot more than there had been before. Brody rarely spoke about her sister, but when she did it was always full of the things she'd left behind, and the things that Brody treasured most in the world. Losing any of them would have been devastating, even more so if they were stolen. "They were some of the last things connecting me to her. Things that were hers or ours."

"I'm sorry." There was little else he could say, and very little chance of getting anything meaningful out of her after that. So instead of pushing her to speak, he just manoeuvred them to the sofa. He just let her cry it out, knowing that once she'd dealt with this they could talk more seriously about what was going on with her. That seemed to be the most important thing right now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sooo here we go, lots of cute Brody/Pride now. Which I know stephncis and a few others have been waiting for.  
Shin xx**

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Pride lost track of exactly how long he'd been sat on the sofa holding Brody as she cried about the things that had been stolen from her. He couldn't really imagine her situation. he had a brother, but as far as he knew his brother was very much alive, while Brody's sister wasn't. Losing anything that was connected to Emily was no doubt awful for her, what made it worse would be the way it had happened. Now though, she seemed to have stopped crying, and was just cuddled against his chest as she tried to regain control. "Thanks for coming." She murmured eventually, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Of course." He smiled, then watched her as she pulled away and went to a sitting position beside him. For a moment he missed the closeness they'd had just a minute earlier. He tried to make his brain stop thinking about that, especially given that there was little to no chance that she felt the same way.

"I am really sorry about earlier." She muttered, then leant over and kissed his cheek gently. That was when he realised she was talking about what had happened with the suspect. He suspected that she was worrying about it again, and while she had made a stupid choice, and he would need to have a conversation with her about it. This wasn't the time. Before he could say that she carried on speaking. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"You weren't thinking." He said, already certain about that. He probably should have continued telling her that it would wait, but he wanted to let her know that he understood at least a little.

"No, I wasn't." She readily agreed, and that was when he shook his head, wrapping his arm around her shoulders again he smiled, comfortable that she wouldn't pull away from the comfort automatically now. Instead she did the opposite and started cuddling in to her.

"We don't need to talk about it right now, that can be left until we're back at work." He was going to stick with that now.

"Thanks." She sighed, clearly glad he was letting her brush it aside. He probably shouldn't, but right now wasn't the time for that conversation. That would wait for work.

"Want me to stay tonight?" He had to ask, but Brody looked at him like he had sprouted a second or third head. The simple fact was that she wasn't meant to be alone yet. "You had a head injury, you need someone to watch you."

"I'll be fine." She brushed his worry off. Pride could normally live with that, but he'd already been afraid once today that he might lose her. So he wasn't looking forward to sitting and worrying that she wouldn't survive the night, no matter how unlikely that was.

He just fixed her with a stare, because for some reason it didn't seem like she was taking this too seriously. He would take it seriously and make sure that she was watched. "If you start dying in the night?"

"It's a very mild concussion." She tried to defend, and he just shook his head, turning his entire body around to her so that he could look at her straight on. he was worried about her, and he didn't think he could live with himself if anything happened to her.

"Please, I'd be happier if I was here." He really didn't want to leave her alone. Especially not after today. He was sure that she'd get through it. That didn't mean she needed to do it all alone, not if someone was there to help. "I can sleep in the spare room and check on you once an hour."

"Ok, you can stay." Brody grinned at him, and he couldn't help but return it. She just looked so adorable, and he was happy that she was going to let him stay. "I'm not tired yet though."

"Have you eaten?" He sounded a little like her mother, or her protector. He didn't mean to come off as either, he was just concerned about her. Brody was special to his heart, and he couldn't stand the idea of her being hurt and him not being able to help her made him physically ache.

"Not since breakfast." She answered after a few minutes of thinking. It was obvious that she actually couldn't even be certain of that answer. That actually worried him even more. She needed to eat.

"Get your coat, there is a restaurant around the corner that makes a great shrimp creole." It was actually one of his favourite restaurants in the city, and he had to admit the idea of having dinner with her was appealing.

"I don't want to go out. Do they do take out?" That was a fair question, especially if she didn't want to leave the house. Which after today he wouldn't blame her. He was almost certain he was in a fair amount of pain, but he knew her well enough to know she wouldn't say anything no matter how much pain she was in.

"I can find out." He pulled out his cell phone then looked up at the TV screen, wondering what on Earth had Brody so fixated on the screen. "What are we watching."

"Some British crime show." She shrugged then motioned back at the screen. He actually had no idea what language they were speaking, but mostly he couldn't believe she was watching a crime show for entertainment. "It's not even completely in English. It's a good show though."

"You watch crime shows to relax?" He had to question that, because he didn't think that would be the best of things with their career. He knew when he watched one he just ended up angry.

"No, I just lost the doofer to change the channel." She shrugged, and it took him a moment to figure out what she meant by 'doofer'

"How about we just put a DVD on?" That seemed like the best idea for them both right now, he didn't think that watching a crime show was going to work.

"Sure, I don't have many though." That was an understatement, there were around 20 DVDs and none of them were things that he'd generally choose to watch. It "Your choice." She added a few seconds later, and he spotted the only comedy he was even half interested it.

"I forgot how funny this film was." He chuckled at the credits began to roll at the end. He wasn't sure at what point through the movie that Brody had slid her hand into is, and didn't remember how they came to be quite so curled together, but he certainly wasn't going to complain.

"Same, I just needed something like this." She looked back at him, still smiling widely. It was nice to see her smile again. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed it the last few days, the last couple of weeks really. He wished that she had come to them, but right now, he was just comfortable with her.

How had this ended up happening, he was sat here, with her looking up at him the way she was and he had to fight his sudden urge to kiss her. It had been a long time since he'd sat like this with anyone, and the fact that they'd been having such a good time together tonight was definitely weighing on him. "I really want to kiss you right now." He whispered, hoping she didn't hear him, but her smile told him she did.

"Then do it." That wasn't the response he'd expected, but he didn't miss the opportunity. He pressed his lips to hers and smiled into it, especially once she leant up too, the combination pushed him to deepening the kiss, pulling her even closer to his chest. It wasn't until they both needed to break for air that he realised that may not have been a very good plan. There were a dozen reasons why they shouldn't, and why what they'd just done was wrong.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, more than a little embarrassed that that had come to pass. He should be better at controlling his impulses at this point. He was the supervisory agent, and he shouldn't be playing tonsil tennis with his junior agent. Especially not after a day like today.

"Don't be." She said, then pulled his head down again. She ended up clambering over him until she was sat across his lap, and he just wrapped his arms loosely around her, careful of where he was sure there was a fair amount of bruising and abrasions from her adventure with their suspect earlier.

"This is going somewhere where we won't be able to come back from." He commented, and she just nodded, clearly not ashamed at all of what they were doing right now. He couldn't blame her for that either. The truth was that this was more than he ever would have expected, but she was a very attractive woman, and he was happy that she seemed to be feeling the same as him.

"Now I am feeling more like bed." Brody ended up commenting a second later as she sat pressed with her forehead against his. Bed seemed like a good idea too, if only so he could take care of a problem that was getting large by the minute. This was not what he needed.

He also didn't want to push his luck, and he felt like after two rounds of tonsil hockey he should cut his losses and wish her goodnight. They could then both go to sleep and probably regret this when they woke up again. "Sleep well."

"Aren't you coming?" She smirked at him, and he didn't really need to be asked twice. Even if all he did for the entire night was cuddle with her and keep an eye on her, that was something he never would have expected. This had all gone far better than he'd anticipated, and they could talk about the ramifications in the morning. Tonight he wanted to help her feel better.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sooo, this is the penultimate chapter, and it's yet more really quite cute Prody things. The next chapter is the last one of this story, but I'll still be updating "Watching" and, soon enough, I'll be ready to post my big multichapter fic called "How Far We've Come"  
****Shin xx**

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She settled down into bed and refused to even consider looking at the damage to her body right now. She'd just ignored the pain and pulled on an old sweatshirt before settling down. It had been a few minutes before Pride had actually gotten the nerve to join her, but as soon as he'd curled up behind her she'd slipped back against him and gotten herself comfortable wrapped in his arms.

"I can't sleep." She complained after a few minutes, rolling over to face him rather than having him cuddled into her back. It had been a long time since she'd shared her bed with anyone, even if they weren't doing anything. She wasn't used to the closeness, but it felt right regardless. "I'm too awake." She continued, shaking her head they sighing.

"Sleep, Merri." He said quietly, then leant forward and kissed her gently, shifting him body position to match hers. She felt a little more comfortable again, and tried to focus on that feeling. After a few minutes it became obvious that she still wasn't able to sleep.

"I can't." She complained, but he clearly wasn't listening. He kissed her nose before resting his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes and just focused on her breathing, and slowly drifted off to sleep properly. Somehow she managed to sleep through the night. It had been a long time since she'd done that, ever since the break in a few days earlier. She figured it was the company.

When she woke up she realised that there was a persistent knocking that was almost certainly what was going to wake her up. After another few seconds there was another knock, and Brody sat up, quickly followed by Pride. "Who's calling this early?" He asked blearily, and all she could do was decide it was best to go answer the door.

"I have no idea." She sighed, throwing the covers back and working on ignoring the pain that shot through her from her bruised ribs and legs. At least nothing was broken, she didn't want to imagine the pain if there was. "Why don't you make some coffee, I'll get the door." That seemed like the best suggestion. She didn't want him answering the door if it was Loretta. Especially given that he was only in his boxers, and she couldn't be bothered finding her pyjamas.

"Alright." He agreed, maybe not understanding exactly what she was thinking, but surely understanding the possibilities. She was certain it was probably nothing. Maybe a package from her mother, or one of her neighbours checking on her again since many of them had heard him begging at her door the evening before.

"I'm coming, hold on." She shouted in the direction of the front door, unlocking all three sets of bolts before peaking around the door, recognising Detective Josh almost immediately. He had been the first one to get her report the night of the break in, and she wondered what had brought him here so early in a morning.

"I saw both cars here and assumed there was someone in, Agent Brody." That was an explanation of his perseverance, but not why he was here. That was something that was concerning here. Had they found something out, or was there a question about something that had gone on. She tried to push those worries to the back of her mind and focus on something else.

"Detective, can I help you?" She asked, hoping that this was all a good sign. She didn't want to have to explain anything more. He didn't seem like he was there to arrest her, or question her at all. After a few minutes his face split into a wide grin.

"I thought you might like this returned to you." He pulled something from behind his back, and she immediately recognised the photo album she had treasured for years. It was a little worse for wear, but it seemed to be mostly in one piece. She was glad of that, and it took everything for her not to scream with joy at having it back in her arms.

"You found it?" She asked, taking hold of it and refraining from wrapping her arms around it. She hoped that it was a sign that things were changing for the better. Maybe it was a sign from Emily that she was making the right choice about Pride, and everything else here.

"It was discovered during a raid on a known drug den." She was unsurprised about that, but she had to admit she felt lucky that they'd found it so quickly after it had been stolen. That didn't mean she hadn't been a mess for the last few days, but at least that was over. "We found a lot of stolen property there. We're still sifting through things at the station, we may yet find the other things stolen. But you said this was important to you." He smiled at the album then looked back up to

"It is. Thank you, would you like some coffee?" It seemed only polite to invite him in, especially after returning something precious to her.

Josh just shook his head, and suddenly Brody realised he was probably due on duty any minute. He had taken time out of his day to bring this back to her. "I need to get back. Call me if you need anything else." The offer wasn't likely to be serious, but she still smiled and nodded. Pretending that she wouldn't just depend on her team.

"I will, I owe you." That was true though, she did owe him. He'd brought back something she loved, something she treasured, and she couldn't believe it was there in her arms again. She had written off ever seeing it again.

"I'll collect." Josh shouted as he jogged off down the stairs back toward his car. Brody watched him until he was in the car, then she shut the door and smiled.

"What was that?" Pride asked as she came and stood in front of where he was perched on one of the stools in her kitchen. She put the album down on the sideboard in front of him and smiled, letting him wrap her all up. She kissed his cheek then smiled again, just needing to pick up the album.

"They found my photo album, look." She flicked the page open to a random page, one that seemed to be an Earthball tournament when she was around 12 years old. She didn't really remember. All she remembered was the ball landing on Emily and her twin pretending she'd been drilled into the floor.

"This is Emily?" He asked, pointing to her almost-identical twin. She and Emily had been identical in all but a few things. Physical skill being one of them, the other being their eyes. Merri had very dark eyes, while Emily had always had very blue eyes. When they'd been children it had sometimes been the only way to tell them apart.

"Yeah, this is from 7th grade, we went on an adventure holiday." She remembered that trip like it was yesterday. She had had so much fun, and they had made so many memories. It hadn't been anything like what she'd expected, but that hadn't changed her mind about doing it. It was one of the few school things she could remember making her feel normal. Boarding school hadn't been the most fun thing.

"You look like you're having fun?" Pride commented after a few seconds, he pointed to one of the pictures where she and Emily were both laughing loudly. She loved that picture, and it was one she had had framed in her bedroom back home for years. She should find where that was packed away and put it up again now. Now she had a new home.

She couldn't help but laugh as she relived the memory, finally feeling like she was somewhere safe for her to do that. "We were. Emily was always terrible at sports, while I was pretty good, so we'd stand close enough and nobody would be able to tell which of us was which." It was also how Emily had passed phys ed for a lot of their school careers. Nobody had ever quite figured out a way to prove they switched until Merri had a growth spurt and Emily didn't. "The only real difference was our eye colour. I ended up taller than her too."

"Tell me about her?" Pride asked, squeezing her gently as he did. Clearly trying to tell her that she didn't have to if she didn't want to. But he was right, she wanted to talk about her twin sister. Her sister born all of 16 minutes later.

"What do you want to know?" She shot back, just because there was so much she could talk about. It would help for him to give her a starting point. After a second it became obvious that he wasn't going to help.

"Everything." He confirmed her suspicion a second later, then squeezed her again. She pressed herself back against him, smiling as he held firm and let her snuggle.

"You asked for it." She smiled, kissing his cheek and settling against him more as she flicked the photo album back to the very beginning. There were so many stories Brody could tell him about her sister, and everything they had done when they were children. She smiled as he pulled her back against him and rested his chin on her shoulder as she pointed out the pictures. Now she had the album back, and someone to make her feel more at ease, things were beginning to look up. It would all work out in the end.


	10. Chapter 10

**So, here is the last chapter of this fic. As you may have guessed, this is not the end of my Prody journey. "Watching" is still being updated, and I have a half dozen other fics going too. So don't worry. Prody will get plenty. I hope you enjoyed this, especially Tigger since this came from your prompt. Thanks everyone for reviewing. As always, see you in the next story.  
Shin xx**

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After an entire day off, during which Brody had spent the entire day curled up on her sofa with Pride telling stories about Emily and the things they'd gotten up to as children. Every story prompted by one of the photos in the album she'd held on her lap. Pride hadn't left her side, or gotten bored with the stories even once. Then she'd spent another night wrapped up in his arms. Then this morning they'd come into work separately, and she'd wondered if they were going to address what they'd done the last 24 hours or so. "You doing OK today?" He asked the moment he saw her walk through the door, shooting her a smile as he did.

"Yeah." She gave a little nod, just confirming to him that she was fine. That was one of the longest standing non-verbal signs the two of them had had, going back to her first few weeks here. It was what she did when she wanted him to believe that she was fine.

"I didn't write you up." He muttered quietly, stepping closer to her then dropping to a crouch next to her chair. She was sure that LaSalle would have already known, but it didn't seem to matter anyway given that LaSalle didn't seem to be in yet. "We can deal with what happened the other day in house."

"Are you sure?" She was ready to face the music if he felt she should. She'd made a stupid mistake, and she was still suffering the physical effects of it. Now the bruises had actually begun showing she was more sore than she'd expected. At least she wasn't broken now.

"Someone has to protect you." There was a lot more than just their work behind those words, and she just reached out to stroke his cheek gently. It was a truly sweet gesture, and something she probably didn't deserve, but she was grateful anyway.

"You don't have to." She wanted him to know that she didn't expect to be protected. She never had. That was something she'd normally hated, but she didn't dislike the idea of Pride being there to help her protect everyone.

"No, but I want to." There was a simple sincerity, and as he went to stand up he kissed her gently. Clearly while they weren't verbally addressing the last couple of days, they were admitting that something had changed. "Get on with your work though, I'm not letting you off the hook with everything."

She suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand before he walked too far away and pulled him back toward her. Before LaSalle made it into the office there was something she needed to say. Something that was probably best their co-worker didn't hear. At least not until they knew what they were doing. "Thanks for the last couple days, by the way."

"You don't have to thank me for something I enjoyed." He smirked at that, and somehow she wasn't at all surprised. Brody had to admit that she had enjoyed it all too. She'd been quite happy that they had managed to not make any of it awkward too. Most of her relationships had been awkward at this point, but not this one. There were things she needed to thank him for that nobody else had ever seen, and nobody had ever helped her with before.

"Well, you brought me back from an edge I didn't know I was at." She had clearly been walking a very thin line, one that she'd begun to fall one way off. Pride had stormed into her house and pulled her back over the line. Then he'd stayed around and listened, reminded her that she was cared for. She'd been able to talk in a way she hadn't been able to in many years. "Then yesterday, with the album, you listened."

"It was interesting, I liked getting to know you some more." He was once again just being sincere, and it took Brody a few seconds to realise that he just genuinely cared about her and her wellbeing. It had been such a long time since she'd had someone who just genuinely cared for her. It felt nice.

"I'm glad." She laughed, then sat back to start her work, letting him get on as LaSalle ambled into the office, clearly not noticing anything at all. Brody just needed to keep focusing on her work, and on the things that she was good at. She spent the next several hours writing her reports, occasionally trying to think of other things to focus on. It wasn't until she actually needed to sort out the prints of her reports that she left her desk, standing in the copy room at the back of the building, trying to get everything working again.

After a few minutes in there she recognised the sound of Pride's shoes and the smell of his cologne before he'd spoken or even announced his presence. It was amazing how fast a small could come to be synonymous with home in someone's mind, but she just felt comfortable knowing he was there, smelling his cologne. "Hey, so something got dropped off for you."

"What is it?" She asked, knowing that there hadn't been any packages due for her for the last few days. Normally if she got something it was to do with a case. She finally picked up the last of her pile of paperwork and placed it on the table. "Come on, spit it out."

"This." He held his hand out, and on it was a piece of twisted pink and orange plastic. The keychain that Emily had given her for their 15th birthday. Brody had managed to keep it safe for 20 years, and now she had it back. It was hard for her to contain exactly how happy having it back made her. She was truly happy.

"Oh my god, they found it." She clapped, taking it off him and pulling her new car keys out, slipping the keychain onto it and discarding of the now useless old keys. She then ran her fingers along the twisted plastic, unable to wipe the grin off her face.

"Yeah. It was in with the evidence from the scene." Pride explained quietly, stepping up closer until he was stood beside her, clearly with a large grin on his own face. "It's been catalogued now, so you can have it back."

"I can't believe I got it back." She smiled again, then span round and kissed him as hard as she could. She was just so happy to get the keychain back. It was a 10cent piece of plastic, probably, but to her that keychain was a connection to Emily. She had wanted to share her joy at getting it back with Pride, because he knew now how much this meant to her. "This and the album. I mean the album does need some repair but this is perfect."

"You can make sure you can find your new set of keys." He traced the plastic with his finger the same way she'd been doing then smiled at her, resting his forehead against her cheek as he did.

"I can. Thank you." It was too hard for her to wipe the smile off her face right now. She was happy and grateful and being pulled a million ways by the happy emotions, things she hadn't really embraced in a long time. She kissed him lightly again then put the keys down on her desk.

"If you wanted some help repairing the album, I could help. You could tell me more stories while we do it." That suggestion seemed like it must have been on his mind all day. She could even understand why, he wouldn't want her to be sat alone with it when she could be telling someone. Since the _Moultrie_ investigation she'd found herself opening up to him more, and this was how it was going to work, and it was the only way it was going to work. She knew he wouldn't judge her, so she felt safe opening up to him.

She looked up at him, and thought about all the stories she'd already told him about growing up as a twin and the terrors that she and Emily could get up to. There were so many gaps in what she knew about him, though, and if she was going to keep telling him stories, it was only far that he tell her some of his. So that was the deal she would make. "Only if you tell me some of yours too."

"It's a deal." He smirked, making her wonder if maybe he was excited about being able to tell her some of his stories, and the things that he enjoyed doing. It would be an experience for the both of them.

"It's also about to be the weekend, so how about we do that." She trailed off, then remembered what had happened the last few weekends when any of them had tried to take some time away from the office and do something that wasn't related to work. "Until some case disrupts our plans."

"I think I can join you in that." He replied with a laugh. They both knew that they were never destined to spend a long time without a case, or without something they should or could be doing about those cases. So she would enjoy the days of she did get, and laugh about the days she didn't get.

"Good." She smiled, then took the chance and leant forward to kiss him lightly. This was definitely a complete change to their dynamic, but they could keep it professional, she was sure. They needed to be, because now they had made this jump she wasn't ready to let them stop. It had taken a long time, but she was sure now that this was right. She was through running, and Emily's things coming back to her felt like a sign. Her sister approved, which mean she was doing the right thing. So she wasn't going to stop.


End file.
